1. Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to home network systems, and more particularly, to processing content which can maximize user convenience by allocating content available in a home network to an empty television (TV) channel.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a home networking environment is an environment where a variety of home information devices such as personal computers, televisions (TV), and server devices are linked together in a network and can thus share digital data and provide broadband communication.
A plurality of audio/video (A/V) devices connected to a home network may include a server, which provides a plurality of contents and a player which plays back the contents. A TV, which can act as a media player in such a home network, plays back a plurality of contents provided by a media server. When a user presses a channel up/down button of the TV, and when an automatic channel function is set in the TV, then the TV displays a channel that is memorized as a subsequent channel with respect to a channel to which the TV is currently set (hereinafter referred to as “the current channel”). On the other hand, when the user presses the channel up/down button when the automatic channel function is not set in the TV, the TV displays a channel that is one channel higher or lower than the current channel. A TV having a Universal Plug & Play (UPnP) control point (CP) function can provide a user with a content list including all contents provided by a server device in a home network, other than the TV. In this case, the TV includes a graphic user interface, which operates in response to user input made using a menu button. A content list of the server device is transmitted through a UPnP content directory service (CDS). Content provided by the server device includes Uniform Resource Locator (URL) information, and thus, the TV streams and plays back the content with reference to the URL information.
In order to play back content provided by a media server, a TV that can act as a media player in a home network must display a content list as an additional menu screen and must allow the user to choose desired content from the content list using a plurality of buttons on a remote control. This type of menu method, however, causes inconvenience to a user who is unfamiliar with the use of a user interface (UI).